International Affairs

The number of people who have died worldwide in the Covid-19 pandemic has surpassed three million, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Singapore Airlines has announced it will increase flight frequency to Sri Lanka from three times to five times weekly from 1 May, operating the Airbus 350-900MH aircraft.

Australia has gifted Sri Lankan police five drones to monitor people smuggling between the two countries.

U.S. President Joe Biden says he and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga are committed to working together to counter challenges from China and North Korea, following Biden's first White House summit since taking office.

NEW DELHI (AFP): India’s daily coronavirus caseload has doubled in 10 days, with a record 200,000 new infections logged on Thursday as authorities grapple with shortages of vaccines, treatments and hospital beds.

Security has been intensified in Tamil Nadu after Sri Lanka announced a ban on eleven Islamic terror groups, the Indian media reported.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Friday announced that the country would begin easing some of its stricter COVID-19 restrictions April 26.

Blinken sought to reassure Afghan officials that the U.S. would still be committed to the country where U.S. troops have been stationed since 2001, following the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on September 11 of that year.

China's Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe will arrive in Sri Lanka later this month to hold bilateral discussions with Government leaders and officials, making it one of the highest level visits undertaken by a Chinese government official since the Rajapaksa government was sworn into power, the Daily Mirror learns.

A Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) has submitted a 50-page dossier on Army Commander General Shavendra Silva to the Sanctions Department of the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office.

Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to China, Dr. Palitha Kohona, presented his credentials to Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday (Wednesday).

WASHINGTON - The State Department's new guidance encouraging diplomatic outreach to Taiwan is seen by some China analysts as a way to encourage and promote closer ties without fundamentally changing Washington's overall stance on China's territorial claims to the island.

Sri Lanka is yet to set a date as to when it will begin the second round of COVID-19 vaccinations as India is yet to confirm if it can cater to the Sri Lankan Government's urgent request to export one million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the Daily Mirror learns.

Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine remained in limbo on Wednesday as a U.S. health panel called for more data before deciding how and whether to resume use of the one-dose shot, putting off a vote for a week or more.

Sri Lanka today signed a USD 500 million loan agreement with the China Development Bank today, Sri Lankan Embassy in China said.

The United States has offered Sri Lanka support to manage its debt and find a more sustainable path forward.

WHITE HOUSE - Declaring that "war in Afghanistan was never meant to be a multigenerational undertaking," President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that "it is time to end the forever war" and said he would withdraw all U.S. troops from that country by September 11.

The United States (US) has briefed the Sri Lankan Government on the commitment of US President Joe Biden to democracy.